


they won't bother you

by pasdejaem



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Established Relationship, Fluff, Ghosts, M/M, Nightmares, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27158957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pasdejaem/pseuds/pasdejaem
Summary: Be careful of what you promise.(Or, Donghyuck doesn't want to be alone. And he isn't.)
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno
Comments: 16
Kudos: 29
Collections: Challenge #2 — tricks; treats; and terrors





	they won't bother you

**Author's Note:**

> fluffy but make it spooky(?

On a chilly Friday evening, Jeno is outside Donghyuck’s apartment for the third time that week.

The first was to help him move in, to clean and unpack everything until the flat looked habited by a human being. Jeno still doesn’t understand how a fight with the landlord for a broken sink ended with Donghyuck with one weekend to find a new place, but sometimes you don’t have to ask, and just help.

The second was the following day because Donghyuck wanted to inaugurate it with him and their friends. They had a good time, although six people there were like a crowd, and Jaemin didn’t show up regardless of Jeno's insistence.

Now, the reason is that Donghyuck doesn’t want to be alone.

Jeno doesn’t mind. Even if the wooden floor cracks as they walk and the sun is opposite the building, making it colder than outside, they would rather stay there than in his messy dorm with a roommate that judges Donghyuck for having ‘a weird vibe’ and tarot cards.

The door opens before he knocks, leaving him bewildered and with his hand lifted.

“I heard the elevator and knew it was you,” Donghyuck says as he seizes his wrist and drags him inside.

It’s freezing. The windows are open and the wind is rolling into the living room, ruffling the curtains in all directions. But Donghyuck’s lips are tender as he presses them against his cheek in a chaste welcome kiss, and Jeno lets him take off his coat to hang it on the rack. They can warm up later.

Jeno’s eyes wander through the flat; Donghyuck’s place, whichever that is, never looks the same.

Candles burn and flicker with the breeze, shadows chasing one another across the walls. Two plants are on the table, green leaves and white flowers he can’t recognize because he has never paid attention. And Donghyuck is weaving around, loose white shirt following him as he runs to the windows and pulls them shut, moves the flowerpots to a shelf and appears with two plates with homemade food.

The smell of pasta, meat and spices fills Jeno’s senses, replacing the musty smell that hasn’t completely left the flat for the time it was unoccupied.

“The electrician couldn’t repair the lights?” Jeno inquires as he takes a seat in front of his boyfriend, a row of tapers between them.

“Nope,” Donghyuck replies, mouth full of spaghetti. “Another one will come tomorrow, so I’ll be fine,” he swallows, “if I don’t run out of candles.”

Jeno nods, taking a sip of wine before talking. “At least it looks romantic, don’t you think?”

“Not all of us can afford to be romantic,” Donghyuck dramatizes, pressing both hands against his chest.

“Well, you didn’t have to light all of them.”

“Look who isn’t being romantic now!” Donghyuck protests but laughs, the melody floating around.

Jeno’s heart skips a beat. A flame flickers.

Donghyuck's effect.

🕯🕯🕯

A gusty, merciless wind roaring out of the sky wakes Jeno.

Before he can even open his lazy eyes, there are two evident things: neck pain from being on the couch and the weight of Donghyuck’s head on his lap.

Jeno smiles. He fell asleep to his boyfriend singing lullabies in languages he doesn’t know, telling stories he has never heard about and mumbling incoherent words when they were both far too gone.

The ticking of a clock makes his head turn. Now that he hears it, Jeno wonders if what took him out of his sleep was the breeze or the constant rattle of that antique piece of wood.

It doesn’t matter what it was, because the clock shows it’s 3 AM and they should go to bed.

“Hyuckie, babe,” Jeno murmurs in a soft tone, not wanting to startle him.

The boy just hums, rubbing his cheek against Jeno’s leg.

“We can’t sleep here again, my neck will hurt like hell,” he adds, tapping the other’s shoulder.

Donghyuck whines and grabs Jeno’s arm to prevent him from moving away. “But they’re in my room.”

Something trembles, buzzes, Jeno’s not sure if it’s himself or his boyfriend. Three candles are still lit, and they flutter.

Maybe it’s a minor quake, perhaps the temperature decreased. Or both.

It’s autumn, it can happen.

It’s October, anything can happen.

“Who?” Jeno asks lightly, playing along with the dreamy boy.

Donghyuck sits with a tiny whimper, resembling the ones he lets out when he’s having nightmares, and he mutters, “The man and the kid.”

Jeno frowns.

Donghyuck rarely talks in his sleep, yet his boyfriend knows how to handle it.

“They won’t bother you anymore," Jeno reassures. "I’m here.”

“Promise?” Donghyuck says in a pout, lifting his pinky finger to sell the pact.

Jeno smiles, fondness spreading through his core. “Promise,” the kind soul says, and entangles their pinkies. “Let’s go to bed now, okay? Get up.”

Donghyuck obeys and stands, eyes barely open to give a step forward and offer Jeno space to do the same. When he feels _his_ presence next to him, Donghyuck doesn’t hesitate and searches for Jeno’s hand. He holds it tight, stroking his thumb against his knuckles.

Jeno beams. Sleepy Donghyuck is one of his favorites. He gets touchier and cuter and always looks for small contact. It makes him want to wrap him in a blanket and save him from the cruel world.

_Is Donghyuck the one who needs to be saved now?_

Jeno snuffs out two candles in a single blow and grabs the remaining one.

A sigh escapes Donghyuck’s mouth, so big that every drop of hope escapes his body.

They walk holding hands, Donghyuck a step behind. He is thinking, debating in the numbness of sleep.

Jeno hesitates at the bedroom door; his boyfriend has makeup on that he must remove, and they both have to brush their teeth.

“Later,” Donghyuck mumbles, as if he could read his mind. “When the sun is up,” he adds, louder, stronger, sounding more awake than ever.

Jeno hums and pushes the door open.

Although he didn’t use too much force, the flame wobbles.

Donghyuck gasps.

“Are you okay?” a concerned Jeno asks, looking back.

“Just walk,” Donghyuck replies, without moving a single inch of his body.

Jeno blinks once and twice, trying to distinguish any part of the room. The deepest darkness he has ever seen engulfs the entire room. As if the candle became unable to illuminate, as if no light can reach that corner of the world.

There’s a silent invitation, a temptation to go closer. An itching in his feet, a tingle in his hands.

He gives a step further.

Jeno walks into the lion’s den without letting go of his boyfriend’s hand. He places one foot after the other on the wood that creaks at his path, ignoring the chill that runs down his spine when he closes the door.

Something pulls at the hem of his hoodie. It’s Donghyuck inviting him to bed, his eyes closed.

“Aren’t you going to change your clothes?” he asks, looking in the direction where he assumes the closet is.

“When the sun comes up,” answers Donghyuck, seizing his arm.

Jeno chuckles but follows him without a single word.

Mistakes have been made.

🕯🕯

One of Jeno’s favorite things is sleeping next to Donghyuck. Just laying there, eyes closed and snuggled next to each other, with Donghyuck nuzzling into his neck and a leg slung over his waist.

Sometimes they change positions. It can be a head against a chest or a back hug, yet the fondness is the same. Jeno has never felt so comfy, so held, than when they’re in each other’s arms.

That night, Jeno also perceives a caress on his head, a gentle one that brushes his dark locks out of his forehead. He moves closer, wanting to be petted, but collides with something different.

Jeno’s eyelids flutter, but they can’t open. An electric coldness spreads from his temples through his core, and his organs shudder, tremble. A leash emerges around his throat, descends to grasp his heart and envelop his lungs. No sound can leave his mouth, not a single cry for help.

He stops breathing, because all he senses is ice. Ice freezing himself, darkness burying him and pulling him under. A voice calls him, mumbles his name; it’s not Donghyuck.

Careful strokes on his cheeks dissipate the frost until it becomes bearable, and he falls asleep again.

The kid is worried.

🕯

Jeno lays alone in his bed, restlessly turning side to side. He flips the pillow and sighs, then sits down, shoulders dropping in defeat.

He peers at his feet, where his cat tends to lay, but now Seol is sleeping in Jaemin’s room. Since Jeno returned that morning the fur ball has been avoiding him like the plague and sticking to Jaemin instead.

With a groan, Jeno reaches for his phone and messages his boyfriend, hoping to get company in his insomniac agony.

However, minutes pass, and Jeno falls asleep without a text back.

At some point during the night, a sudden weight on his side takes him out of dreamland. Jeno extends his arm, expecting to find Seol’s fluffy body next to him.

His hand touches nothing. With a grimace, he looks up.

What he sees isn’t Seol, but a boy.

A boy with a bowl haircut, not older than ten. He wears a tiny smile and a big scar across his face.

“Hi,” he mutters, pressing his lips together after that.

“Hi?” Jeno replies, propping himself up on his elbows.

_This must be a dream_ , Jeno thinks. What is a kid doing there? Jaemin is an only child and they don’t have neighbors with children. Are they being robbed? Is he a distraction?

“My name is Jisung,” the boy mumbles again, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. “I won’t hurt you.”

Jeno frowns, and his only response is a bewildered, “Thank you?”

“But I’m not sure about the man in the corner,” Jisung adds, without looking in that direction.

Jeno does.

Everything goes dark.

-

**Author's Note:**

> thaaaank you so much for reading this💞💞💞 i hope you liked it even if it wasn't that scary;;  
> this fic was inspired by a [tiktok](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSQkPBHr/)  
> also thank you to all the mods for making this fest possible AND A BIG THANK YOU TO MY BETA !!
> 
> [the fic is no longer anonymous so, if you want, we can talk on [twitter](https://twitter.com/pasdejaem) uwu]


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